Unpleasant Surprise

Even before the doors to her quarters had hissed shut behind her, Liselle Qwyyn collapsed, face first, onto her soft bed. Upon registering her arrival, the computer chimed at her.

Qwyyn moaned into the bed sheets. "Gods, what now?"

"Incoming message from Trill," the computer advised her.

Liselle pulled herself up from her bed and slumped into the chair at her desk. Trill? Could something have happened to her mother? Was it the Symbiosis Commission following up with her again so soon? With her breath firmly held in her lungs, she reached forward and activated the desktop screen.

The Starfleet emblem faded away to be replaced by an image of...

...herself.

Qwyyn started in surprise. Only when the image on screen did not also display her degree of shock did she realize that she wasn't actually looking at a video of herself.

"Greetings, Commander Qwyyn," her doppelganger spoke. The voice was professional, reserved. Cold. Just as Liselle remembered it in the last time they had spoken. How long had it been? Gods, not since their father's funeral.

"Merella," Liselle said, speaking the word almost breathlessly. She felt her stomach tighten with anxiety. "Is everything okay. Is it mom?"

"Your mother fares well, Commander."

There was a loud bang and Qwyyn jumped. Only then did she realize that it was her own hand that had slapped down on the desk next to her. Hard. "Damn it, Merella!"

Merella Swii tilted her head to one side, as though utterly confused by Liselle's outburst. It was such a condescending action that Liselle nearly shut down the communication in that very moment.

But, somehow, Qwyyn managed to collect herself. She smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry. I've been under a bit of stress. I'm so happy to hear that *our* mom is doing well. What, pray tell, is the reason for you call, sweet sister?"

"Please, Commander. Surely this sort of behavior is beneath a member of Starfleet?" Merella chided. She waited for Liselle to fire back. When she saw that her twin was not rising to the bait, she continued. "Now then, with the pleasantries aside, I'm contacting you on behalf of the Symbiosis Commission to provide official notice that a representative of the oversight committee will be requesting permission to board the USS Elysium and evaluate the current welfare of the Liselle/Qwyyn joining."

Liselle groaned.

Merella couldn't help the small, satisfied smile at the corner of her lips upon seeing her sister's reaction. "That's right, Izzy. Me," she said, speaking the last word with acid. "I will be contacting your Captain shortly to work out the details of my arrival."

The screen went dead before Liselle could respond, and she found herself staring back at her own open-mouthed reflection on the deactivated screen. Qwyyn sat for several minutes afterwards, her fists clenching and unclenching as she quietly talked herself down from punching a hole through the reflective surface before her.